NOVATO — Branson School of Ross ended Upper Lake’s season, 53-32, in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division 5 girls basketball playoffs Friday night at Novato High School.
The No. 2-seeded Bulls (17-8) play No. 3 San Domenico in the semifinals Tuesday night.
Upper Lake, the No. 7 seed, finishes up at 20-3. The two-time defending North Central League II champions trailed 21-8 after one quarter and never recovered.
Junior guard/forward Hannah Golan fueled Branson’s strong start by scoring 14 of her team-leading 22 points in the first quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Branson took a 35-17 lead into halftime.
“We tried to regroup in the second half but we couldn’t score,” Upper Lake head coach Mike Smith said of the 15-3 margin the Bulls outscored the Cougars in the third quarter. “We had our chances inside and watched the ball roll in and out.
“You have to keep scoring against Branson. We definitely had to play a flawless game and we didn’t,” Smith added.
Upper Lake had a 19-2 regular-season record but could draw only the No. 7 seed in the original 16-team Division 5 field because of a weak non-league schedule and a weak NCL II this season. That low seeding led to the Cougars drawing a strong team like Branson in the quarterfinals.
“We need to get that higher seed,” Smith said. “We didn’t get the quality of competition we wanted early on. We tried to get into some tougher tournaments but some things fell through. That’s something we need to address going into next season.”
Smith said Branson, a perennial Division 5 contender, has a strong winning tradition.
“They’re a real good club,” he said.
Heaven’Lee Loans Arrow, who returns next season for her senior year, led the Cougars with 11 points while senior guard Zoey Petrie scored seven points in her high school finale. Taylar Minnis added six points.
While the Cougars lose a handful of solid players to graduation, Smith said his returning core led by Loans Arrow and players he’ll inherit from Upper Lake’s league championship junior varsity team, such as Nya Marcks, Kali Minnis and Rainy Minton, bode well for the team’s future.
“Marcks and (Kali) Minnis played some serious minutes tonight,” Smith said.
